Sunday, December 28, 2014

That holiday in December that customarily brings the USA
to a grinding halt has passed and I am so relieved. Now, there are nearly a
year of days until it rears its head again. I am not a grinch, I am a secular
Jew. Certainly, I do not begrudge anyone their religious practices or
celebrations, nudism, paganism, polyamory and devout atheism included. Just go
for it, whatever it may be!

I almost succeeded in completely ignoring Xmas this year and
I am grateful to immigrants for this bliss. Before large groups of Muslims,
Hindus and Buddhists came here en masse, this place was truly a Christian
country. Yes, there existed a meager six percent minority of Jews and a few
Buddhist Chinese around in the fifties and sixties while I was growing up. We
were thankful to those who kept their restaurants open on that fateful day.
Beyond that, there were few dissenting voices within earshot.

My Jewish parents made the decision to bring secular
Christmas to my sister and me. We had a Chanukah bush that looked and smelled deceptively
like a Christmas tree. We lit candles on the menorah perfunctorily. And, like
other Americans celebrated on the 25th. The reason for this was that
my parents, like so many Jews, had just felt odd and left out on that day. They
wanted their children to be more part of this country’s culture. Why not indulge
in some harmless trees, ornaments, lights, reindeers and Santa. American
Christmas really has very little to do with old J. C. and besides that, it was
fun.

It’s true, secular-Jewish Xmas did make me love the holiday
season. But today, something makes me even happier this time of year. It is the
fact that many new immigrants do not make these concessions at all! The motel
my friends and I stayed in near Monterey California
is owned by East Indians. Our small coterie of wandering Jews stayed there
right through that holiday with neither a decoration nor a single mention from
the very diverse group having coffee and waffles on Christmas day. To me, that
was a gift of unbelievable magnitude and spirit.

So keep on coming Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and even,
goddess forbid, other Jews. We are broadening the spiritual scope of this
country. And I love it!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

I am trying to be inclusive here, not divisive. Murder by
law enforcement is appalling and wrong. It happens because the police,
increasingly the arm of the new authoritarian state that is struggling for
control, are the weapon of the one percent. They have been bought and paid for
by the corporate personhood of the sickeningly wealthy. Yes, we must
demonstrate against indiscriminate police murder without any accountability.

Getting out in the streets to demonstrate has always been a
powerful tool to fight oppression. But now, more and more, the protests become
the control group for testing every new military weapon. Sound canons that
damage hearing are a new toy. The powers that be now bring strobe lights to
make photo or video recording impossible. And, every day, more and more places are
making the recording of police an illegal activity thus threatening the very
basis of free speech.

This is a rat race and, unfortunately, the rats are winning.
We are all potential criminals under constant surveillance. Survival itself has
become so much more difficult since the banksters overthrew the economy taking
away middle-class jobs and any remaining semblance of workers’ rights. Racism, sexism
and ethnic prejudices are running wild. As far as trashing some minority group,
anything goes It is no co-incidence that the atmosphere is starting to feel
like Germany in
the early 1930’s. The conditions are similar.

Massive demonstrations may take us in a different direction
and they are worth a shot. It is also possible that we will see repression on a
massive scale, unlike any we have seen before.

I’m not arguing for fear, just saying that we have to
organize. Single issue struggle is fine but we need much more, a program that
encompasses all our issues combined with the unity and commitment of each of us
to fight for everyone. We will also need representative democratic structure with leaders we can trust.

Knowing that something is very, very wrong and desiring to
fix it is the first step. We are on the tightrope now. On one side is a more
egalitarian, compassionate society. Fascism on the other. The direction we will
fall remains to be seen.